Blob Mckenzie wrote: The players will NOT get everything they want much to ukcanuck's dismay... and Lots of ways to skin the cat here but reading some of the posts in this thread make a guy want to puke

I am probably going to stay out of this thread . I swear some people to seem to actually enjoy the labour dispute more than they like the sport .

Aww for gawds sake Blob what the hell else has there been to talk about around here but the labour dispute?

We are sports fans with a "them versus us" mentality as much part of us as breathing, of course I'm gonna turn the lockout into a sport and game!

When the solution finally comes it will probably be more acceptable to the owners than the players and that's probably always the way it has to be, but I tell you what, the owners are getting a bloody nose out of this and I'll bet the next CBA negotiation will be much more civilized...

Anyway think how bored you would be without being able to think how you are so much smarter than me?

Your welcome and that goes for Pot Meds and Coco too

( and in case there are any guns out there, I meant that in the nicest way possible )

The players mistake is that they still feel hard done by from the last deal and refuse to see how much they prospered from it. Every offer they have made removes linkage and that is not going to happen.

Henrik's comments the other day are telling us that the players still feel they are owed something by ownership for agreeing to linkage.

Employees rarely win in a labour dispute. At least the way we would describe a win. Last time around it was players like Linden who stepped up and took over the negotiations after painfully recognizing that a cap and linkage was the reality. He got blasted for it in some circles as a traitor, Chelios anyone. But who could honestly argue now that the players got hurt in that deal?

The same thing will happen here. The average player will be OK but it may mean the big stars take a little less of the pie. But as always, moving forward, the stars will earn more than their fair share and the 3rd/4th liners will split the difference. But all of them will be well paid for what they do and have better benefits and pensions than the average person.

Can anyone really not see that this was Betman's master plan all along, a labour stoppage until the end of Dec?

But on a different note, I hear Kesler is doing great! And if we are lucky the Luongo trade will resurface by Friday morning, Saturday at the latest. But alas, I will be in Vietnam so I don't give a fuck.

Don't fret though I will be back in time to catch the end of the World Junior Championships!

It appears to me that we are about to know whether there will be a season in the next few days. They seem to be doing everything possible now to salvage what's left of a season and I'm of the mind that a deal gets done. It's almost to the point where the PA will put up the latest offer for a vote ad if they do I can't see the players rejecting.

A partial season is better than "2/3's of 5/8'ths of fuck all" as they say in NZ.